Writing as Driving: Some Reflections on Writing
I’ve been blogging online and writing guest posts for over a decade. Over the years many of the people who have subscribed to my blog know me well. Others know of me only from something I’ve written or from belonging to the same online writing community.
Because this second group of people makes up a large share of readers, I’ve been thinking for a while that it might be helpful to do a more “introduction”- type post.
Trey Perrot is a writer and non-staff pastor at his local church in Iowa. He recently asked me a bunch of questions about life and writing, and I thought it might help to share my answers with you. If you’d like to read more from Trey, you can find him on Substack.
Below is our interview. In it, I share a quote from Flannery O’Connor that I’ve been thinking about recently and explain why driving is a helpful metaphor for the kind of results Christian authors should hope for in their writing.
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[Trey] Tell us a little about yourself, Benjamin.
[Benjamin] I’m a pastor at a local church, a husband, and father to six children. They range in age from 8 to 19. At our house, we’re probably a bit too dedicated to sports. My wife and I met on the track and field team in college, so it’s always been part of our lives. I grew up in Missouri, but my pastoring has brought us to central Pennsylvania for the last dozen years. Growing up, I never thought I’d become a pastor or a writer. I used to hate reading! Following God has been full of surprises.
[Trey] In your website, Fan and Flame, you say, “As I write, I’m trying to keep my fire alive. But I also want to write to fan into flame your joy and passion and hope.” When did you start writing and how did it help you? At what point did you think your writing might help other people's passion and joy and hope?
About fifteen years ago, the church I was at needed curriculum related to membership. So I put it together. That experience—which followed years in the crucible of seminary and a few other small writing projects—caused me to enjoy writing and see some of the ways the Lord used my words to help others.
[Trey] As you look back across your blog, books, and guest pieces, which piece of writing felt the most spiritually formative for you personally? Why?
[Benjamin] I could mention a dozen moments along the way, but I’ll just highlight the first blog post I ever wrote, a piece I called “Fresh Words, Fresh Language, Fresh Blood.” In that post, I quote someone I might not quote now, but even as I went back again and glanced at it, I still remember how God was stirring my heart to write about Christianity, not in lifeless, expected language but in accessible and riveting language. I like to think I do this better now than when I first started. Still, I feel I have more ground to take.
[Trey] You’ve been writing extensively about eternal hope and Christ’s return. What started your interest in that topic? What has been one surprising truth you’ve learned? How has the process of writing on this topic shaped and formed you?
This is a long story, which I share early in the book, The Restoration of All Things. In short: A few years ago, our church denomination (The Evangelical Free Church of America) changed one word in our statement of faith concerning the end times. We became more open to the four orthodox views of Christ’s return, instead of committing to just one or two. I was the first pastor in our denomination to be ordained after this change, which sounds neat. But it actually meant my ordination was highly scrutinized. That process deepened my love for this often overlooked doctrine, not merely from an academic perspective but from a pastoral one. Having a vibrant belief that Christ shall come with trumpet sound can sustain us through many trials.
[Trey] Many writers struggle to hold together calling and discipline. What practices or habits have most helped you keep writing even as other responsibilities compete for your creative attention?
[Benjamin] I think we all struggle with this.
There’s a line from Flannery O’Connor that I’ve been thinking about lately. Regarding the limitations of her health and how it affected her writing, she wrote to a friend, “What you have to measure out, you come to observe closer.” The idea is that when you have a limited amount of something valuable, you tend to use it more carefully, and that carefulness often improves the final result.
I’ve always tried to set specific times for writing. Those times have moved over the years. Currently, I have a longer session on Wednesday mornings, lasting about 3 or 4 hours, and a one-hour block on Sunday afternoons. Any other writing I manage to do is a bonus. However, carefully “measuring out” writing time seems to, in an unexpected way, improve both quality and quantity. Like most writers, including apparently O’Connor, I wish I had more.
[Trey] When you receive feedback about clarity in your writing or public communication, how do you decide what to embrace and what to discard? How do you make sure that “input” doesn’t change your voice?
[Benjamin] When it comes to critique of my writing after publication, I don’t get much. Beforehand, there’s a lot of private feedback from editors, though. I’ve heard you should set your default to “yes” when receiving corrections from editors. This approach has served me well. I try to push back on every tenth edit or so, just to show that I actually care about the minutia.
When it comes to preaching and speaking, I receive more feedback after the fact. I try to take that to heart as best as I can, believing people mean well even if it comes across as testy. Recently, just a few comments about how fast I preach led to a lot of rethinking (here).
To be honest, I don’t always accept feedback as well as I should. Ungodly discouragement comes far more often to me than ungodly confidence. But God has been kind to bring growth over the last decade. Leading a church kinda forces the issue.
[Trey] You’ve been involved with writing for years. If you could go back to your earliest posts, what would you tell that younger version of yourself about writing?
[Benjamin] All the publication angst isn’t helping your soul. To borrow from Jesus, I’d say, Do the writing work for a decade with your left hand, not worrying so much about what your right hand is doing.
[Trey] You’ve been an editor and writer for online articles. In your experience, what’s one thing that makes short-form articles most helpful?
[Benjamin] The website I used to work for and the types of articles I tend to write are what would be considered “long-form.” But I get what you mean. Even a longer article is still twenty times shorter than a book and much shorter than even chapters. Probably the best aspect of website articles—whether short-form articles below 750 words or longer ones around 2,000 words—is the ability to provide godly “nudges.”
As we follow Christ, we need some “shoves,” those big events and big moments of transformation. But more frequently we need little nudges to keep us on the right path. Think of it like driving. Sometimes you must really turn the wheel sharply to stay on the road. But most of the time, you just need frequent but little course corrections to stay safely in your lane or to follow the gentle curve of the road. These adjustments may seem small and insignificant, but without them, cars crash. I think of articles like that. This approach level-sets expectations while also encouraging me that the lonely and laborious work still matters.
* Photo by Zoshua Colah on Unsplash
